Stuck In Twilight
by TrustTheHypocrite
Summary: Takes place after Chapter 262, after Orihime hits Ulquiorra. UlquiHime.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. Nope, not even the annoying ones.

* * *

Orihime was letting her thoughts wander. Well, as much as she could let them anyways. The sparse room that she occupied was unusually imposing. Often she felt that its suffocating grip prevented any clear thoughts from forming in her already turmoil-filled mind. Even the moon didn't provide much comfort; it was always in the same place, and remained as unchanging and half-complete as the desert of a world beneath it. 

Though, she did feel quite a bit better after she had recovered from crying. It must be the endorphins, or whatever it is they say is released in the brain after tears or laughter. But she didn't want to feel any better. Her _nakama_ were in constant danger, and _she_ was the reason for it. She thought, if she concentrated enough, that she could still feel a faint trace of Chad's _reiatsu. _But she wasn't sure anymore if it was just her imagination or not..

The thing was, Ulquiorra was kind of right in a way. Her _nakama_ shouldn't be here in Hueco Mundo risking their lives for her. They didn't need to, because she had possibly found a way to destroy the _hougyoku_, if she could build up Aizen's and the other's trust enough. They really shouldn't be here at all right now, not yet at least. _If only she could somehow tell them this… _

A familiar, yet by no means comforting presence entered the room. Her repeated circles of thoughts were disrupted.

She turned to face the somber-eyed arrancar, and hoped he was not in too bad a mood after the little dispute that had occurred no less than an hour ago. Fortunately, Ulquiorra seemed to show no sign that the incident had occurred, at least no anger towards it. Like always, he stared at her with piercing jade eyes, coldly calculating things related but unknown to her. The arrancar's skin was scarcely darker than his white clothing, and charcoal black hair only accentuated his pallor.

"It seems you decided to eat your meal after all," he chose to note, glancing sideways at the empty tray, with his hands pocketed as they usually were.

At hearing this, she slightly blushed, admitting to defeat in this particular battle. After all, having bland food forced down your throat didn't sound too interesting. And she didn't like needles either.

"Yeah…I figured it would be better to."

Another silence. They always made her feel uncomfortable, as if she should say something to fill the void. She stared at his strange countenance, and wondered if tears would follow the emerald paths that streaked his face if he were to cry. Not that he would ever cry, of course. That thought almost made her laugh. He was too prone to cold reason and apathy for such actions, despite what his melancholic face implied at first glance.

He closed his eyes for a moment, as if sighing.

"It's really too bad your _nakama _cannot understand Aizen-sama and his ambitions. They are all viewing things from the wrong perspective." _Oh no, not about her friends again. _"We are stronger than Soul Society even now, it is easy to determine who will win. Soul Society has held power for too long anyhow, and change is a necessary ingredient that, in the end, always benefits the universe."

"…I know." She had agreed mostly so he would stop talking about that subject, in case she would get defensive again, which was likely. She fidgeted her hands anxiously, with an idea playing in her head. It was worth asking, even if the chances of him complying was small. She had better say it before he said something else again, anyways.

"Um…do you think I could somehow talk to them, maybe, to convince them to leave? I know it isn't my choice to decide, but, it's just that I can't stand them being in danger any longer."

Pause.

The pale arrancar studied her for a moment, before speaking.

"Do you think that they would listen even if you did manage to tell them?" There was a hint of mockery in his words, though his expression remained unchanged.

Oh, right.

Even if she did lie and tell them that she had willingly come to Hueco Mundo, and willingly deserted them all, they would be able to tell she was lying. Her eyes were too innocent. They would be too stubborn to listen anyways, especially Kurosaki-kun. Yet… if she could let them know that there was a chance that she, herself, could erase the _hougyoku _from existence, then they might understand.

But there was no way that Ulquiorra or anyone else would let them talk in private to one another. It seemed hopeless.

"Ah, I guess you're right, never mind then." She smiled awkwardly.

"…You should think more about things before you say them, human."

Her face heated again. How could he make her feel ashamed so easily, and why was he always doing it? It's not like she was constantly forgetting that she was powerless here, and only a tool for Aizen to use. She wanted to tell him that his degrading comments weren't necessary, but that wouldn't really solve anything.

Although, now that she noticed it, his eyes seemed a bit softer than they normally were. But she couldn't quite place how they appeared that way. It was _almost _as if he felt some sort of understanding. She knew she was probably imagining it, though. But he had been refraining from using the more rude 'woman' at the end of his sentences, and even had been using the 'human' one less often. Hmm..

A strange howling noise broke the silence from far off, reaching their ears through the barred window in which the ceaseless moon shone its rays through. Orihime was glad for a distraction, turning quickly towards the sound. Ulquiorra's eyes followed. It was undoubtedly some sort of hollow creature. What a creepy feeling, she thought sometimes, that she was actually in Hueco Mundo, the _Hollow World;_ actually breathing its air, and living amongst the hollows she had before helped to fight against.

She turned back towards the powerful Espada, who was still staring off. He seemed to be thinking about something else, though it would be more accurate to say he wasn't thinking at all. Like he was temporarily away from everything, and just existing. His face adopted an almost tranquil look, which surprisingly suited his wintry appearance.

So even he, who was so good at controlling all of his actions, would sometimes remove his mask.

His unusual behavior only lasted a short moment, maybe less, and he was once again the callous figure which Orihime knew so well. The half-helmet on his head reminded her that he was a hollow. Just a hollow. It was easy to forget sometimes, since the arrancar were so human-like.

He sighed now, and turned around as if to leave. But he paused for a second, and peered over his right shoulder, towards her.

"You know, my face still hurts."

_..Now what was that supposed to mean? _Surely he was strong enough for a slap not to harm him. But strangely, out of nowhere a pang of guilt gripped her, and she felt sorry for hitting him. Why did it bother her now though? He had probably been intending from the beginning of that previous meeting to verbally attack her _nakama_ until she opposed in some way, to test how close she still was to them. In spite of this, she couldn't help feeling bad, and realized he was almost out of the room now.

"I…I'm sorry!"

A moment later the door closed, but he had heard her. She was left alone once again, to ponder over this event on top of her other continual worries.

* * *

Author's Ramble: 

This is really my first attempt at writing anything, outside of school. So don't be too harsh with reviews!

I pretty much only wrote this so I could have Ulqui make that comment about his face hurting, but I might write more eventually if I get the urge to. I know UlquiHime is really a crack pairing, but aren't those kind the best? If Ulquiorra was a flavor of gum, he would be wintergreen, definitely.

By the way, I almost wrote Shinigami Realm instead of Soul Society xD (Been watching too much Death Note lately)

And thanks to those of you who read through this! I can't help but appreciate if you also comment!


	2. Chapter 2

I was bored, so I added another chapter to this. It picks up right from the end of the last chapter. I wouldn't expect any more after this one, though. Sorry!

**Disclaimer:** Bleach not mine.

* * *

Ulquiorra walked away from the room Orihime was confined in, with silent thoughts going through his head. It was really quite a pain to have to be the one to deal with a human prisoner, and a female one at that, but at least it proved to be interesting sometimes. He continued walking down the hallway, with no particular destination for the moment. 

He paused mid-stride as a message from the ninth Espada struck into his head, and the novena Espada gave out his final message-- that he himself was defeated, but so was his Shinigami opponent, Rukia, skewered upon a spear. 

…_Well, that was rather foolish on Aaroniero's part,_ he thought, after the message had ended. Aaroniero was ranked nine and was the only gillian of the ten Espada, so that had to account for some of it. But Ulquiorra had to give that girl, Rukia, _some_ credit… it would have taken quite a bit of strength (or luck) to defeat an Espada, ninth one or not. 

He started to walk again, but then paused once more, sensing a familiar reiatsu not too far off. Sighing a bit, he changed direction and headed to where the orange-haired Shinigami was. This would be better to deal with now, though it hadn't seemed necessary to do so before in Karakura Town. He expected that the adolescent must have gained _some_ stability with his powers from the time of their last meeting, since he was still alive here in Hueco Mundo. 

Ulquiorra picked up his pace a little, not wanting someone like Grimmjow to find him first. His feet stepped closer and closer to the stairway where Ichigo would be… 

* * *

Orihime awoke with a start from her dream, a few beads of sweat sliding down her shaken face. She hadn't even realized that she had fallen asleep, but then remembered that one of the arrancar-servants had entered after Ulquiorra left and brought some water for her. The water must have been drugged with something to help her sleep… She had quickly gulped much of it down, feeling rather dehydrated after the conversation. Not that sleeping would help her though-- she had been avoiding it for a reason. The nightmare came swiftly back to haunt her conscious mind, and it was still felt fresh in her memory, still real.

In it she had been swimming, no, drowning in a weird, dark ocean. Except it felt more like it was coarse, choking sand than water, like the desert-world outside the window of her cell. All of her nakama were struggling in it too, but some had sunk down further than others. Sado… and Rukia too, she had been impaled by a spear-like object… 

Orihime's eyes widened at this memory. _Wait, that part hadn't just happened in her dream! _She could still feel that Rukia's reiatsu was terribly weak and-… She felt another huge drop in spirit energy, and this time she let out a small cry after realizing that now it came from Ichigo. Fear then gripped her body and she hastily stumbled towards the thick door that blocked her from freedom. Determined fists pounded on the cold stone.

"Let me out! Let me out of here, please!" Orihime kept pounding and shouting. Her fists now shook. "Let me out…" 

She sunk slowly to the floor, defeated. She felt so weak here, she couldn't even attempt to save her friends from their fate. Her forehead grimly fell onto the door, arms now limp at her sides, as tears rolled down her face. What could she do?

* * *

Vibrant, but cold, green eyes peered down upon Ichigo, who lay amongst the layers of settling dust and rubble. The force of Ulquiorra's kick had sent Ichigo through one of the thick building structures, leaving the black-clothed Shinigami even more wounded than before, and gasping for breath. 

"You have impressive reflexes. But this time your mask shattered in less than a second…," remarked the Espada coolly. "Just give up." 

Ulquiorra had actually been surprised at how similar Ichigo's reiatsu had been to an arrancar's, and how at some points he had a strength that could surpass even his own. But… his energy was used up too fast, and in the end he was inevitably just a another reckless Shinigami. Too easy to deal with. 

Ulquiorra's eyes widened all of a sudden, as Ichigo thrust the zanpakuto to his chest. 

"You think I'm gonna give up?" Dried blood cracked on his face as he grinned. "You're the top Espada, aren't you? So… if I defeat you, then it's the same as winning the whole thing!"

"I see…" Ulquiorra lifted his arm from his pocket, and pulled the sword away, ripping the material beneath it in the process. "Sorry to disappoint you." On the left side of his chest was engraved his rank number. Four.

"Nu…number four?" he stumbled, and his arm dropped to his side. _That can't be…_

"Yes, I am the cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer." His eyes stared down distantly. "Among the Espada's rankings of power, I am considered fourth." 

Giving Ichigo no time to react to this statement, he shoved his hand into the center of the other's chest. 

"Kurosaki Ichigo… you cannot defeat me. And even if you could, there are still three Espada more powerful than I." Ichigo's wide eyes grew dim as he began to lose consciousness. 

"No matter how many times you might stand up to fight, your side will never achieve victory." Ulquiorra removed his arm, blood emerging with it, and Ichigo collapsed onto the rubble-covered ground. 

"It seems that I overestimated you, you did not improve as I had hoped." Blood dripped off his hand now, and he turned away to leave. He was fairly disappointed with this outcome. "If you're still able to move with that body, leave this place. If you can't, then just die there. Either way, your journey ends here." He left Ichigo to his fate.

* * *

Orihime was still kneeled down on the floor by the entrance, only half-awake since the drugs from the water were still affecting her somewhat. Her eyes were red from crying, and the feeling of hopelessness encumbered her. Her head was still resting on the door, and she abruptly fell forward as it opened to reveal two familiar sandaled feet. 

She rubbed dry tears from her eyes and looked up at him, trying to get her thoughts moving right again. "Ulquiorra…?" 

He looked down at her silently, then, rather unexpectedly, he leaned down and grabbed her arm to help lift her up. She struggled a little with her legs because she had been sitting in the same position for too long, but managed to stand on her feet. Ulquiorra had changed from his tattered outfit into another clean one before returning here, so she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary other than that he seemed more tense than usual, if that was the word for it.

Then realization of all that had happened seeped back into her, and she sputtered out what she'd been intending to say. She knew that Ulquiorra would know already about Rukia and Ichigo being seriously wounded. 

"Please, please just let me out! I just want to heal them, please! Let me go heal Ichigo…" 

But when he didn't answer, she knew it would be pointless to keep asking him, and her eyes lowered from his emerald gaze in regret. Her eyes shifted to his hand, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out an odd cube-shaped object. 

"This…," He held it up with his hand "is a Caja Negación, a Negation Box. Espada use it to punish subordinates, if needed. When it is used, it traps them inside an alternate dimension. For eternity." 

"…Why are you telling me this?" She looked suspiciously from the small box back to him.

"Hold out your hand." After reading the fear on her face, he added "Don't worry, it does not affect humans."

Orihime sighed a little with relief, and let him place the object in her palm. His fingertips brushed against hers for a second, which sent an odd chill through her, but if he noticed, he didn't show it.

"If you want to go heal your Nakama so badly, then fine, do it." As he spoke he unzipped the top of his coat to reveal where his hollow hole was-- just below the base of his neck. "But you will have to entrap me first, by placing that box here, to initiate the Negación field. I will not prevent you from doing that, if that is what you choose." To prove that he wouldn't, he boldly stuck his pale hands back down into his pockets. "If you do not trap me within the field, then I will not allow you to to leave here. It's your choice." He waited for her response. 

_This…this has to be some sort of a test, _she thought. _If I go through to help Ichigo and the others, then Aizen won't ever trust me to enough to get me close to the hougyoku, and I won't be able to reverse it from existence. And if I don't help, then Sado, Rukia, Ichigo, they might all die because of me…_

"But, if I use this on you…since you are an Espada and stronger than most arrancar, will it still trap you forever?"

Ulquiorra's eyes widened a fraction; he had expected her to assume that it affected all arrancar the same, and not wonder about whether stronger ones like Espada could escape. It would in fact only take him about a few hours to be able to return. He didn't want her to know this part, however, since it might make her choice easier to make. 

He let a faint smirk pass over his face, the closest thing to a real smile that would come from him. "I don't know."

She bit her lip in thought, eyes focusing off to the side, away from Ulquiorra's stare. Even if it was a test or a trick, she still had to do _something_ for her friends. 

But, also…She returned her eyes back to him, and as usual, couldn't figure out what he was thinking behind that ever-vacant face. 

She exhaled her breath nervously, and moved towards the pallid arrancar. He stiffened slightly, expecting her to now trap him in the field, which would be a far from pleasant experience. But instead, she wrapped her hand around the back of Ulquiorra's neck, and planted uncertain lips onto his. The box was clutched tightly in her right hand, but it was down at her side, posing no danger for the moment. 

He backed up slightly, in surprise, but didn't try to stop her. His large eyes stared into her now half-closed ones. She didn't know how he would react to this, being an outwardly cold and unsympathetic person in all her other encounters with him, but decided she didn't care anymore. Her fingertips were touching the back edge of his incomplete helmet, but her hand felt soft, charcoal-black hair. And despite their pallor, his lips felt really warm as she continued to press her own onto them. 

And then, he responded by deepening the kiss. Orihime's stomach jumped a little at this, but she welcomed it. His hand-- the one which, without sympathy, had stabbed through Ichigo's chest no less than an hour ago-- slowly reached up and took hold of her free arm, and pulled her closer. His tongue explored gently inside her mouth-- so careful, when it was this same person who threatened to force food down her throat if she didn't eat anything. His eyes relaxed, although she still couldn't be sure what he was really thinking. She never could.

Orihime's eyes closed the rest of the way, to fully experience the drug-like effects of touch. She let this moment go on a little longer, then hesitantly pulled away, away from Ulquiorra's mouth and soft lips, away from the strange comfort that it brought her. She moved her raised hand over to his face, where those constant blue-green tears trailed. Ignoring the stare he gave, her finger traveled down one of them, tracing its path, but it didn't smear away. She thought of how miserable it would be to have this permanent reminder of the fragile side of humanity on her own skin. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and then swiftly she placed the box into the hole beneath his neck, before he could say anything that might stop her. 

"Orihime…" Illuminant-green eyes widened as jagged projections enveloped around and enclosed upon him, somehow taking him to that alternate dimension, the hell for hollows. She watched with a sad, but resolute look upon her eyes, until he had completely vanished. 

The door was still open, and now she was free to leave. She decided it would be best to heal Ichigo first, and then after that she could worry about the others and Aizen and trust and whatnot. For now all that was important was to help her nakama. She moved towards the hall but paused and touched her fingers to her lips, then glanced back to where Ulquiorra had been. Somehow she knew that he wouldn't be trapped in that dimension forever. When he had told her that he didn't know, something about how he said it made it seem like he was actually confident that he _could _find a way out of it. She turned back and rushed off to any place but where safety would be, but even so, it would be a better place than this.

* * *

Author's Ramble:

Thanks for reading! I don't know if this flows well from the last chapter or not, but oh well. If it seems weird compared to the original plot, that's because I changed things around a bit and cut some things out (like those two jealous arrancar girls). But I attempted to make it so that this could still kind of fit into the original story (Grimmjow can still find her and battle Ichigo and all that stuff), it's just that now Ulquiorra is out of the picture earlier. Which, by the way, when the heck is Ulquiorra coming back in the manga? It's been like 50000 chapters since we've last seen him, so where is he?

The fight scene with Ichigo and Ulquiorra is the same as the original, but afterwards I tried to make Ulquiorra's motives more unclear. Did he do that whole thing with the Negation Box because Aizen wanted him to, or was it for his own reasons? 

I think I like this chapter better than the last, cause Orihime got to kiss him, yay!

And sorry again, but don't be expecting more chapters after this one! Writing isn't really my thing and I don't know where I'd go with this fic anyways... 


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